Octreotide treatment of cancer chemoradiotherapy-induced diarrhoea: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Patients receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy have a high risk developing to an acute chemoradiotherapy-induced diarrhea (RID). The clinical efficacy of octreotide in controlling chemoradiotherapy-induced diarrhea remains controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy of octreotide for treatment the chemoradiotherapy-induced diarrhoea. METHODS: Relevant RCTs studies assessing the effect of octreotide on clinical outcomes compared with placebo were searched in Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science (up to December 2018). Heterogeneity was assessed with I(2), and publication bias was evaluated using sensitive analysis. RESULTS: Eight trials, a total of 594 participants. We found octreotide was significantly effective compared with the control group (OR =3.17; 95% CI, 1.28–7.85; P<0.0001). The overall effect of octreotide was 62.5% (220/352), while that of the control group was 49.3% (168/341). We found octreotide group was effective compared with the control group in 24, 48, and 96 h (OR =16.02; 95% CI, 3.51–73.15; P=0.0003), (OR =4.70; 95% CI, 1.65–13.42; P=0.004) and (OR =14.49; 95% CI, 6.24–33.65; P<0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: Octreotide is superior to conventional therapy in the duration and effectiveness for chemoradiotherapy-induced diarrhea.